AOL is making a change which will affect the behavior of ALL bounce messages for both inbound and outbound mail.

Currently all bounce messages have the sender name of MAILER-DAEMON@aol.com.

With the changes for outbound mail, ALL bounce messages will have the sender name of MAILER-DAEMON@sender-domain. For example, an AIM account sending invalid recipients to the internet, will receive a bounce from MAILER-DAEMON@aim.com, and a switched.com member from MAILER-DAEMON@switched.com, UK member from MAILER-DAEMON@aol.co.uk.

With the changes for inbound mail, ALL bounce messages (mostly due to user-defined spam settings) will have the sender name of MAILER-DAEMON@recipient –domain. For example, a member of yahoo sending to an AIM account with a user-defined block, would receive a bounce message from MAILER-DAEMON@aim.com.

This may result in multiple bounce messages generated for a single piece of email being returned to the same sender. One bounce message is generated for each unique recipient domain.

For example, a member of yahoo sending a message with four recipients, two AIM accounts and two switched.com accounts (all with user-defined blocks), would receive ONE bounce message from MAILER-DAEMON@aim.com and ONE from MAILER-DAEMON@switched.com.

These changes will be installed into production over the next couple of weeks.

When an email references external images, Gmail usually doesn't display them automatically. Instead we show placeholders and present you with the option to "Display images below" or "Always display images from" that sender.

We do this to help protect your privacy from spammers, who can use images and links to verify that your email address is real.

But often the messages you get with images are from friends or family and there's no reason to worry about your privacy — you just want to see the photo of your newborn niece or the invitation design they're sending you. So, in these cases, we've decided to start displaying images by default. Now, whenever someone you've emailed at least twice sends you a message containing images, you'll see them right away. Note that we picked this threshold of two messages to start with, but we may tweak it if it doesn't seem right going forward. And we only display images by default for authenticated messages (using SPF or DKIM). Gmail and other big mail providers usually authenticate their mail, but other services might not, so it's possible you'll get an email from one of your contacts where images aren't displayed by default.

I was speaking at a webinar this week and the moderator said, "Stephanie, we have 30 seconds. How can marketers avoid being filtered as spam?!"

No pressure, right? Luckily, I talk fast!

I responded with something like this:

"Reaching the inbox is the only way you can earn a response. So it's pretty important to focus on this.
"Avoiding the spam filters is simple in concept: You must be welcome in the inbox - and you must maintain an ongoing reputation for being welcome in the inbox. The minute you bore me, or abuse my trust or send something irrelevant, you are spamming me.

"It's simple in concept, complex in practice. Being relevant and earning a high sender reputation is not a box you can just check off. It's an attitude. It's got to infuse every aspect of your email marketing approach - your content strategy, your frequency caps, your permission practices, your metrics and tracking, how you source your data, process your bounces, and in the approach of every person you hire and train and reward around email marketing success.

"Every time you send an additional mailing this week to pump up revenue, or you mail to a list with a dubious source or you send the same promotion to every person on your file; you are putting your sender reputation at risk. And you are also leaving money on the table.
"There is no good reason NOT to track your inbox placement and work a bit harder to be welcome in the inbox. It's too easy for subscribers to ignore us. And that isn't just for today's mailing, a poor sender reputation will harm you for all your mailings.

We're always looking for new ways to protect Gmail inboxes from spam and phishing. Last year, we started taking extra steps to protect you from fake eBay and PayPal emails, requiring that any email claiming to come from one of eBay's or PayPal's domains actually comes from them. We do that by looking at the "From" header, and when it says "ebay.com" for example, it means it really did come from ebay.com. Anything else is rejected; it won't even appear in your spam folder because Gmail won't accept it.

Now, unless you are a regular reader of this blog with a photographic memory, you may not be aware of this extra protection. So, we thought we'd add a little something to remind you. Turn on "Authentication icon for verified senders" from the Labs tab under Settings, and you'll see a key icon next to verified emails that are super-trustworthy.

"Super-trustworthy" is a technical term I just invented that means: (1) the sender, usually a financial institution, is a target of phishers, (2) all of the sender's email is authenticated with DKIM, and (3) Gmail rejects any fake messages that claim to come from this sender, but actually don't.

It's a bit of work for senders to make their email super-trustworthy, which is why this feature is limited to just eBay and PayPal right now. We hope to add more senders in the future, and when we do, you'll know because you'll see the super-trustworthy key icon magically appear by those senders too. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

URL: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109242

In a ruling that could fuel debate about online privacy, a federal judge in Seattle has held that IP addresses are not personal information.

"In order for 'personally identifiable information' to be personally identifiable, it must identify a person. But an IP address identifies a computer," U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones said in a written decision.
Jones issued the ruling in the context of a class-action lawsuit brought by consumers against Microsoft stemming from an update that automatically installed new anti-piracy software. In that case, which dates back to 2006, consumers alleged that Microsoft violated its user agreement by collecting IP addresses in the course of the updates. The consumers argued that Microsoft's user agreement only allowed the company to collect information that does not personally identify users. Microsoft argued that IP addresses do not identify users because the addresses don't include people's names or addresses. The company also said that it did not combine IP addresses with other information that could link them to individuals.
Last month, Jones sided with Microsoft and dismissed the case before trial.

But some say that Jones's decision about IP addresses is inconsistent with other recent opinions about the issue. Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, points out that the European Union considers IP addresses to be personal information. Last year, the EU said that search engines should expunge users' IP addresses as soon as possible.

Additionally, a court in New Jersey ruled last year that Internet service providers can't disclose users' IP addresses without a subpoena, on the theory that people expect their IP addresses will be kept private.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, criticizes the Microsoft ruling as "a silly decision." "The judge didn't understand the significance of the IP address or the reason that it was collected," he says.

Rotenberg adds that the judge prematurely dismissed the case, arguing that more facts were needed to determine whether IP addresses were personally identifiable.

Today, industry observers say that IP addresses can be combined with other information to determine people's identity. In addition, even when IP addresses have been anonymized, it's possible to associate the account with a specific individual, given enough other information. The most famous example occurred in 2006, when AOL released search logs showing queries made by more than 650,000 members. The members' IP addresses had been changed, but the queries themselves contained enough clues to people's identities that The New York Times was able to find and profile one "anonymized" user, Thelma Arnold, within days. At the time of that incident, many companies took the position that IP addresses were not personally identifiable information.

Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the think tank Future of Privacy Forum, adds that many sites with older privacy policies maintain that they don't collect personally identifiable information, but log IP addresses. "For many years, people just threw around the term 'personal information,'" he says. "They didn't pay attention to account IDs in the hands of third parties, IP addresses -- other types of information that, with some effort, could become identifiable."

It's that time of year again. If you're an email marketer, you're probably not thinking about hosting a back yard BBQ or staking out a spot on your favorite beach. Your head (and your company's bottom line) is much more focused on what's going to be in Santa's sleigh this year and how you can use email to ensure that your customers will be decking their halls with your products this holiday season.

Most email marketers plan their holiday strategy in the summer, and this year is no different. However, this year does bring with it a greater set of challenges. The current economic climate is stagnant at best. While the financial pundits predict signs of an upturn any day now, that hasn't translated to consumer spending. Purse strings are tight and marketers are going to have to work harder than ever this year to stand out from the rest of the holiday inbox clutter, resonate with their customers and provide relevant messaging that encourages brand loyalty and purchasing activity.

So what can a forward-thinking marketer do? The first step is to break free from the same type of "Free Shipping" messaging that was sent last year (and possibly the year before that, and the year before that). While discounts and savings are certainly relevant this year, sending the same one-dimensional messaging throughout the holiday season will only lead to subscriber fatigue (and possibly opt-outs and complaints) and won't differentiate your brand from the competition. Instead, consider implementing these tips to help you stand out:

If you don't know what your subscribers want to receive from you this holiday season, ask! The pre-holiday season (basically now through early October) is a great time to send out a subscriber survey that gives you insight into how you can really resonate with your subscribers this holiday season. What did they like (or not like) about your emails last year, in terms of content, offers, and frequency? What do they need the most help with? How much are they planning to spend, and on who? How can you help get them into the holiday shopping spirit? Offering an incentive (like an entry into a holiday contest, prize give-away or a coupon code) could improve response rates, and once you've received answers and feedback, be sure to actually use this data to make adjustments to your email program strategy.

Count down the season with a special holiday series. Ask subscribers for permission to send a new gift-giving series. Send the series once a day for a week or once a week for a month. Content can include gift ideas for her, for him, for the kids, for a budget ($50 and below), for the hard-to-shop-for friend or family member, or feature non-traditional gifts or eco-friendly items. Track sign-up rates and subscriber behavior across the series. Do all messages in the series perform well? Which ones get the most clicks and conversions? Which categories generate the most interest? The least? Start promoting the series in your fall campaigns and make it easy to sign-up for. Be sure that you set clear expectations about what subscribers will be getting, when they'll get it and for how long.

Give a little something extra. While sending email is first and foremost about driving sales, show your subscribers that you can still embrace the true meaning of the holiday season. Inspire them to tap into their holiday spirit and connect with friends and family by featuring extra helpings of content in at least one promotion a week. Consider sending a favorite cookie recipe (and give subscribers a forum for sharing theirs), instructions for a family-friendly craft idea, how subscribers can start a new holiday tradition, ideas for festive activities, or a how-to guide for hosting a great party or mixing the perfect cocktail.

By Michael Geist
Toronto Star
Jun 22, 2009

URL: http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/654448

Last Thursday began as an ordinary, rainy spring day in Ottawa. Canadian politicians, having just avoided an unwanted election, were only two days away from an extended summer break.

Yet by the end of the day, a trio of events unfolded that could help shape the Internet in Canada for years to come.

The first took place mid-morning, with the introduction of new lawful access legislation.

The bills would dramatically change the Internet in Canada, requiring Internet service providers to install new surveillance capabilities, force them to disclose subscriber information such as name, address and email address without a court order, as well as grant police broad new powers to obtain Internet transmission data.

The introduction of the legislation by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan – accompanied by more than a dozen law enforcement representatives –generated an immediate wave of criticism.

Internet service providers expressed concern about the cost of the program, while privacy groups lamented the government's about-face on the issue of court oversight since Stockwell Day, the previous public safety minister, had pledged not to introduce mandated disclosure of subscriber information without it.

Given the experience with misuse of surveillance powers in other countries, the bill will likely continue to attract attention as Canadians ask whether the government has struck the right balance between providing law enforcement with the necessary investigative powers, ensuring robust oversight, and preserving online privacy.

Hours later, the scene shifted to question period, where Liberal Industry critic Marc Garneau surprised Internet watchers by emphasizing the importance of an open Internet and declaring that the Liberal party now firmly supports net neutrality. The party has adopted a position opposing the management of Internet traffic that infringes privacy and targets specific websites, users and legitimate business applications.

The move represents an unexpected shift in policy direction just weeks before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is scheduled to conduct hearings on network management practices. For months, the NDP has stood virtually alone among the major Canadian political parties in its support for web neutrality.

With the Liberals onside, the door is open for a bipartisan effort this fall to enshrine net neutrality principles into law.

Immediately after Question Period, the standing committee on industry held its final hearing before the break on the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, Canada's new anti-spam bill. Some business groups have sought to water down the legislative proposal, implausibly arguing that Canadian privacy law is sufficient to address persistent spamming activities and that the ECPA's tough penalties could dissuade talented business leaders from taking on corporate directorship positions for fear of potential liability.

Representatives from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Competition Bureau and CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein firmly put those fears to rest. Assistant Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham rejected the view that current privacy laws are up to the task of countering Canadian spam and welcomed the clarity of the anti-spam bill.

Von Finckenstein was similarly supportive of the ECPA, expressing optimism about its potential to address long-standing spam concerns.